Total Drama Search Party
by ElliarraRose
Summary: Join Chris McLean for another exciting season of Total Drama, where he'll be dishing out pain to fourteen all-new contestants! Who will be eliminated? Who will stab everyone in the back? And who will be our ultimate winner? Find out here on Total Drama: Search Party!
1. Chapter 1: Brand New Holmes

_Total Drama Search Party_

_Chapter 1: Brand New Holmes_

A dark and mysterious island jutted from the water in the middle of nowhere. High mountains flanked the beaches on one side and beaches adorned the other edges. The east side held a rickety wooden dock and a man with dark hair and a wicked grin.

"Welcome to the newest installment of _Total Drama_!" he greeted, directing his attention to the multitude of cameras that surrounded him. "We're coming at you with season six and fourteen all new contestants, new challenges, and a ton of drama!" He motioned behind him as the camera panned to the large island around him. "As you can see, we've got an entirely new location this season, complete with cruddy cabins, vicious animals, and cash hidden _everywhere._ This is Total...Drama...Search Party!"

The camera returned to focus on Chris's face, which sported its usual chiseled grin. "This season we're going to mix things up a little. There'll be some new rules and _a lot_ of room for lying, cheating, and backstabbing. But first, let's meet our new contestants!"

The usual luxurious boat that dropped the campers off held fourteen fresh faces. One girl sat disinterestedly clicking away on her laptop on the top deck, another female reading opposite her. A pale boy with a gapped grin juggled fruit as two blondes spectated and clapped happily, one with heels that could kill and the other looking much more tomboyish. A tall girl dressed as Izzy from Total Drama Island smacked away the hand of a blond-haired boy as he tried to lift the orange wig from her head. A guy in a sweater vest and button-up chatted with a freckle-faced boy while another guy in a red hoodie fidgeted nervously with his clothes, straightening them out. While a brunette girl cried and prattled on, a guy in a gray beanie leaned against the railing and stared down into the water, clearly not paying attention. And on the farthest end of the boat, a plump girl with wild white hair and a Christmas sweater had cornered a redhead against the railing, talking excitedly to him and showing him all of her decorations.

Chris watched as the boat approached the dock and then smiled mischievously. "Why don't we put a little jump in their step?" Chris said as his trusty assistant, Chef, approached with a large remote. He handed it over to Chris, who happily flipped the little switch on it, and the boat's decks detached from the vehicle, catapulting the unsuspecting teens off of the fancy boat and onto the island.

"Here they come!" Chris cried. "Welcome Surrey and Janelle!" The redhead with the laptop landed on the beach hard on her back, hugging her laptop to her chest protectively. The blonde with the book landed on her butt, her book held over her head and her eyes squeezed shut.

"Here's Donny, Brittany, and Ashleigh!" The three landed sporadically on the beach, a few dropped pineapples landing among them. Donny landed face down and sand clung to his face and black hair. Brittany sat up from her position on her back, shaking her long blonde braid as sand poured out of it. And Ashleigh whined and pouted as she brushed sand from her designer clothes. Next, the Izzy-impersonator hit the sand, but she excitedly jumped up and cackled, and Chris introduced her as Cullen.

The boy who'd been investigating Cullen's costume, now known as Locke, landed at Cullen's feet and groaned, rubbing his head. The boy in the sweater vest and the boy he'd been chatting with flew in next, and Cain and Archer landed in a heap. Cain swiftly corrected himself and stood up, pushing Archer off of his back. Murray, the guy in the red hoodie, almost knocked Cain over again as he flew over his head and landed in the sand behind him. Next flew in Terra, bawling loudly as she flew into the sand, and then crumpling in on herself and laying there racked with sobs. Parker, the boy in the beanie, landed by her on his face, but flipped over and laid on his back, not nearly as torn up as the girl next to him.

"And here comes Thrasher!" cried Chris as the redhead torpedoed into the beach face first, getting a mouthful of sand. "And finally, Noel!" The plump girl landed heavily on top of Thrasher, receiving a groan from the scrawny boy, and her decorations fluttered to the ground around them. The pile of teens slowly got to their feet and Chris joined them once they were lined up.

"Welcome to the island!" he greeted, receiving groans as the contestants wiped sand from their clothes and hair.

"I thought you were over entrance gimmicks," grumbled Thrasher, but Chris responded with a gleeful, "Nope!"

"Can we get to the part where you give me my money?" insisted Ashleigh as she fluffed her thick blonde curls.

"Maybe," said Chris, making the campers light up. "But you have to find it first! This season, the money is already up for grabs, but it's hidden all over the island. If you can find it, you can keep it, but you still have to make it to the end to claim it."

"Then let's get this show on the road!" said Brittany. "The sooner we start, the sooner someone wins!"

"I'm glad you say that, because your first challenge starts in _ten minutes!_ Go to your cabins and drop off whatever you brought-or whatever made it-and then meet me back here for the first challenge of the season!"

Already in competition mode, most of the campers broke out running toward the cabins, while others strolled disinterestedly behind them. On the walk there, Surrey turned to the two next to her, Janelle and Noel. "Wait, don't we need our teams before we can claim our beds and drop off our stuff?"

Janelle nodded, but Noel jumped in before she could speak. "Maybe _we_ get to pick our teams this season! Wouldn't that be cool?" she said excitedly. "I hope you guys are on my team, so we can all be best friends! Ooh, I'm gonna go say hi to everyone else!"

As Noel ran off, Surrey grimaced, but Janelle offered a polite wave. Finally, they all arrived at the cabins and found that they were split by gender rather than team. The girls all occupied the cabin on the left and the boys on the right.

"That's a little tacky," complained Ashleigh as she looked at the pink symbol for females poorly painted on their door.

"Totally dumb," agreed Terra, who stood next to her. Ashleigh rolled her eyes and walked into the cabin, ignoring her new little shadow.

Cullen-or Izzy-had already claimed a top bunk and was bouncing on it excitedly. "I thought they got rid of all the old contestants," Ashleigh hissed loudly enough for Cullen to hear, though she directed it toward Terra.

"Nobody can get rid of Izzy!" Cullen cried. She threw a pillow at Ashleigh's face with a wicked laugh, causing the blonde to seethe. "Wanna have a pillow fight?"

* * *

_Confessional:_

The room was dimly lit and Cullen seemed to be leaning against metal bars. The confessional this season looked to be nothing more than a tiny jail cell, the cement bench suspended by two chains in the wall. It wasn't comfortable, but it was somewhere to tell all.

Though still in her Izzy costume, Cullen looked much less excited than she did outside with the others. "I have enough outfits in my trunk for the whole season, and I've researched each person's approach to the game so that I can perfectly replicate their strategies. It's what's going to get me the win this season," she explained matter-of-factly.

* * *

Noel jumped into the bunk below her and threw down all of the things in her arms. She then began hanging up tinsel and ornaments along the bed supports, humming Christmas carols under her breath.

"Cool!" said Cullen as she watched Noel set up a beautiful display to frame her bed. "Where'd you learn to do that?"

"Years of practice!" Noel informed her. "I've been doing this since I was five."

Brittany claimed a bottom bunk under Terra, and Surrey and Janelle soon entered to claim the same bunk bed, Surrey on the top and Janelle underneath. This left Ashleigh with a bed all to herself, which she wasn't shy to brag about.

On the other side, the guys claimed their beds with similar cattiness. Archer and Murray shared a bed, though Murray had to completely flatten out the covers before he could even think of sitting on it. Donny climbed into a bunk under Thrasher, but was greeted by a bunch of rubber snakes under his blanket.

He yelped, but quickly noticed they were fake. "Oh man, these almost gave me a heart attack!" He held up one of the rubber snakes and looked at it. When he heard a laugh from above him, he looked to the grinning redhead who was sitting on his bed. "Did you put these in my bed?"

Thrasher nodded, but Cain spoke up from across the room. "Is our stay here going to be filled with kindergarten pranks?" he asked, back turned as he put his duffel bag down on a bunk. It looked like he'd have a bunk to himself, since Parker and Locke had already claimed the same bed and everyone else was situated.

"Oh no," Thrasher assured him with a devious smirk. "They get _much_ worse."

* * *

_Confessional:_

Donny whimpered at the thought of sharing a bunk with Thrasher. "Maybe if I get him to like me, he won't prank me as much," he considered. "I really hope he likes me."

* * *

The teens regrouped on the beach with Chris and Chef. "Welcome to your first challenge! We wanted to give you a chance to really get to know the island, so you're going on a scavenger hunt." As Chef handed out old, torn up maps, Chris continued. "You each have a piece of a map that will lead you to your object. But to find the finish line, you're going to have to work together. Each team makes a complete map, and you have to figure out who your teammates are to do it. When you figure it out, bring your whole team to the finish. And whoever doesn't get there first will be sending someone home tonight!"

There was a soft chatter as the reality of someone leaving hit the campers, but Chris had soon shouted for them to go and they were off. Most of the campers started off in separate directions, looking for their own object before putting their maps together.

The first to find their object was Cullen. She could see the glint of something shiny on one of the high branches of a tree, and was preparing to scale it as Izzy would have. She slowly gained her balance, gripping a low branch and placing one foot onto the trunk of the tree, but was a little wobbly.

"Planning on going trick-or-treating this afternoon?" she heard a voice say behind her. It surprised her enough for her to lose her grip on the branch and she stumbled backward into Thrasher. She regained her composure and her manic grin quickly, staying in character.

"I'm not supposed to have candy, it makes me CRAZY." She laughed and then turned back to the tree. "I'm busy getting my thingie!"

"Looks like you spent all your time on that costume and didn't think to learn to climb a tree," Thrasher remarked, but Cullen wasn't listening. He rolled his eyes and walked on, leaving the girl to climb alone. As she scaled a couple branches, Thrasher turned back momentarily, yelling out, "Don't fall!" and scaring Cullen enough to make her slip, but not enough to fall. He finally left, a vicious laugh fading with him.

Donny came bounding along next and looked up into the tree when he heard rustling. "Having trouble?" he called up, causing Cullen to slip again. Seeing her struggle, he quickly climbed up beside her, scaling the tree like a squirrel. "Need any help?" he offered.

"Of course not, I'm an expert climber!" she said, pushing a thumb into her chest with false pride. When she began to lose her balance, she gripped the branch again and faltered. "B-But if you wanted to climb _with me,_ I wouldn't be against it."

Donny gave her a smile and nod and helped Cullen up the tree until she reached her object. She found it to be a shiny key ring, jingling with multitudes of little keys of all shapes and colors. "Thanks, Don," she said.

"No problem, Cullen-I mean, Izzy." She broke into a small smile and Donny helped her back down the tree until she was firmly planted on the ground.

"Want me to help you find your thing?" she said, putting the keys around her wrist like a bracelet. "Maybe we're on the same team." She held out her map and he quickly followed suit. The two maps didn't seem to fit together.

"Huh, maybe we aren't." He frowned. "Or maybe we just don't have matching pieces. Somebody else will make our pieces fit together."

"Then what are we waiting for?" she shouted. "Let's go find some more of our team!"

Locke had found his object-a golden magnifying glass-within a small cave. When he started to exit, he froze right outside the opening. Scanning the area with a suspicious gaze, he called out to the seemingly empty clearing, "I know you're out there, scum!"

"Man, you're good!" commended Thrasher as he dropped down from the rocks he'd been hiding on. He picked up a stick as he walked toward Locke, using it to trigger a net trap that'd been set under forest debris. "I didn't even get to do my monologue."

"You may be able to fool these jokers, but I'm no fool," Locke said simply, tucking the magnifying glass safely into his pocket.

"Hey, if anyone here is a Joker, it's me," Thrasher said, jamming a finger into his chest to make a point. But he softened-as much as Thrasher could-and held out his map piece. "Care to see if we're on the same team?"

With a glare and a huff, Locke pulled out his map piece as well. "Only to gather more evidence," he insisted. When the two pieces were put together, they seemed to match up.

"Well, would you look at that, looks like we're teammates."

"Actually," interjected Locke, flipping the two pieces over, "if you look at the markings on the corners of the map, you'll see that we're on different teams. This mark here on yours," he motioned to a tiny black polygon on Thrasher's map before continuing, "is completely different than mine." He pointed to the mark on his own map, which was a dark red and differently shaped.

"Wow, impressive that you figured that out," Thrasher said, tucking the map back into his pocket. Locke did the same silently, not taking the compliment. "But maybe you and I could work together anyway."

Locke rolled his eyes. "I'm not seeing an alliance between us," he said plainly. He left Thrasher behind in the clearing.

"If only you knew the power of the dark side!" Thrasher called back with his voice lower than usual, an arm stretched out theatrically as he watched Locke leave. Then, in his normal tone, "You'll regret this, dude! I don't wanna have to come after you!"

* * *

_Confessional:_

"I work alone," Locke insisted. "I don't need some horror-freak getting in the way. I'm here to find that money and _win_. There's no doubt that I will, either, just as long as everyone stays out of my way." He sighed, as if the camera had given him a disdainful look. "Okay, maybe I could use _one_ ally in this game."

* * *

"I don't think you're going to find anything," Surrey called, watching as Janelle scooched into a small animal's home.

"The map leads right to it. Now stop being such a sourpuss, I'm trying to concentrate," answered the blonde.

"Oh yes, I forgot, crawling takes massive amounts of brain power. Please, don't let me hold you back from your genius activities with my mindless drivel." She rolled her eyes and let out a deep sigh.

"Ha ha, very funny." Janelle gasped and let out a small cheer. "Found it! Pull me out, Surrey!" The redhead grabbed her by the legs and began pulling when she heard Janelle yelp again. "Pull faster! PULL FASTER PULLFASTER!"

With wide eyes and a burning curiosity, Surrey yanked Janelle out of the little cavern with all her might. The blonde suddenly came loose, sending both girls into a tree behind them, Janelle flat on her stomach, and Surrey with her back pressed to the trunk. "What happened in there?" Surrey asked breathlessly.

Janelle's hair was completely wild, her bun all but undone and her glasses were crooked, but luckily not broken. "There was a-a-I don't know! It might have been a snake, or a rat, or a really tiny bear!"

The animal emerged from its hiding spot and Surrey snorted, stifling a laugh. "Or a bunny," she snickered. "Did the wittle guy make you pee your pants too?" she asked with a mocking baby voice.

Janelle sat up and backed closer to the tree, practically into Surrey's lap. Her object, a shiny silver set of keys, was firmly in hand. "Shut up! It growled at me! I've never had an animal growl at me!"

Surrey rolled her eyes. "So sorry to hear that," she said dryly. As Surrey made a move to push Janelle off of her, the rabbit let out a vicious roar that made both girls jump to their feet.

"I don't understand why it doesn't like me!" Janelle whined as Surrey pulled her away from the animal.

"Come on, Dr. Doolittle, no time to hang around and ask!" she cried. They sprinted off clumsily, Surrey pulling Janelle forward by her wrist. They looked over their shoulders to make sure the rabbit wasn't following behind them, and promptly crashed into two other campers.

The four slowly climbed to their feet. "Gosh, I'm so sorry about that," whimpered Donny, helping the girls to their feet. He had a hand on Janelle's wrist, but Surrey wouldn't take his offer. Cullen stood up behind him, rubbing her back to get the ache out. "I really just wasn't watching where I was going, it's all my fault, please forgive me!"

Surrey blew a stray lock of red-orange hair from her face with a sneer. "Calm it down," she insisted playfully, though he didn't seem to take the joke lightly.

"Sorry! I mean-uh-I-" Donny seemed broken as he tried to apologize without apologizing. As he toiled over the paradox, Janelle let out a yelp and he realized he was still gripping her wrist. "Sorry!" he squeaked as he released her, his face contorted in horror.

"Wow, this guy is a walking disaster, isn't he?" commented Surrey, earning a chuckle from Cullen and a light slap on the shoulder from Janelle.

"You hush," demanded the blonde. She turned to Donny with a softer look. He hung his head in embarrassment. "Sorry we ran into you."

Donny looked up and smiled a bit, slightly flashing his gapped teeth. Before he could speak, though, Cullen took lead of the situation. "Hey, lemme see your maps," she insisted of the two girls. They obliged and Cullen inspected them with her dark green gaze. "Yes! Donny, gimme yours, too!"

He handed it over quickly. "Are we all on the same team?" he asked hopefully.

"Looks like!" she cheered with a manic grin. She handed back the maps after she was satisfied with the looks of things. "Welcome to Team Awesome!"

When Surrey snorted and Janelle snickered, Donny added sheepishly, "We're still working on the name."

* * *

_Confessional:_

"Wow, Donny sure is sweet," mused Janelle, a dreamy mist in her green eyes. "And he's super cute, too." She paused and thought for a moment. "I mean, so is every other guy on the island...Do you think any of them would go for me? I'm cute and spunky, right? Right?!"

* * *

Near the edge of the mountain range, Ashleigh and Terra glared up at Ashleigh's object, trying to force it down with their gazes. After a minute of waiting for it to literally fall into her lap, Ashleigh turned to the smaller girl and smiled sweetly. "Terra, sweety, could you go get that thing for me?" she asked, vaguely pointing in the object's direction.

The brunette contorted her face in confusion. "I don't know how to climb rocks," she said, as if it were obvious. "I'm not going to break my neck for it. Besides, I have to find my thing, too."

Ashleigh sighed. "Well one of us has to go up there and get it," she insisted. "And it sure won't be me. Rocks are gross and climbing is for poor people."

"Duh, that's why I won't do it," Terra agreed. "I'm not a dirty, dumb, loser like-"

"Hey, what're y'all fighting about?"

The voice made both girls light up and they turned to Brittany with bright smiles. "Hey, Britt!" greeted Ashleigh as she swooped in next to her and threw a hand over her shoulder. "Terra and I were having a discussion about who we want to take with us to the final three."

"Little early to be making those kinds of commitments, isn't it?" Brittany asked.

"Not when you have a sense for this kind of thing, hun. See, I already knew that the only people on the island I'd be able to trust were the girls. Girls are just _better,_ you know? And when I saw Terra and when I saw you, I just _knew_ that we all had to form an alliance and go to the end. It's like a crazy psychic power or something!"

Terra joined Ashleigh at Brittany's side. "Yeah, we all have to stick together. We're all super important to the success of the team. Ashleigh is the brains-"

"And the beauty," added the blonde with a hair flip.

"-and you can be our brawn. And I'm the-the-What am I again?" The small girl looked to Ashleigh for guidance.

"You're the moral support, which is super important, too. Promise."

Terra didn't seem very convinced, but went along with it. "The moral support, right. We make a full team!"

"So what do you say, Britt?" Ashleigh pressed when the farmer girl didn't jump on board immediately. "Wanna be part of the winning team?"

There was another moment of silence as Brittany pondered the alliance. "Sure, why not?" she finally agreed, earning cheers from the other two girls.

"Great, now to prove yourself, you have to go get my thing from that little cliff up there. That's probably nothing for you, right? You probably climb all kinds of mountains back on your farm, right?"

"You've never been on a farm, have you?" Brittany asked, but Terra pushed her toward the cliff before anything else could be said.

"And then you can help us find mine!" Terra added with a grin.

With a sigh and a shrug, Brittany began her ascent up the side of the rock and quickly disappeared over the edge of a cliff. Ashleigh and Terra waited impatiently, their necks craned up to see where she went.

"And what are you two ladies staring at?" came a voice, making the two girls jump. They turned to find Cain, silver key ring in hand and an eyebrow arched in suspicion.

"We're waiting for-" Ashleigh elbowed Terra in the arm before she could finish, which only made Cain more curious.

"We were just getting a good view of the island's mountains. You know, taking in the scenery, appreciating nature," Ashleigh covered. Not a single word seemed to fool Cain.

"Yes, well, you enjoy your nature then. I'll be off to find my teammates." Cain offered a polite wave and turned to leave, when Terra called out, "Wait!"

He turned back, waiting for her to speak. "What if we're on the same team?" she asked, suddenly feeling nervous under his demanding brown eyes. "It's worth a check."

With sudden, curt movements, Cain pulled the map from his pocket and presented it to the girls. They soon produced their own maps and the papers were compared by Cain's unforgiving glare.

He swiftly handed them back their maps and folded his up without a word. Finally, he said, "Well, it looks like you and I are on the same team, then, Miss Terra." He turned to Ashleigh and offered a quick smile. "Miss Ashleigh, maybe I'll see you around." And with a final nod, he turned and walked off.

Once he was out of earshot, Ashleigh whirled around to glare at Terra, ready to give her an earful about ruining their strategy, but saw the smaller girl in tears. "What are you doing?" she asked, tensing up.

"We're not on the same team," she sniffled. "How are we supposed to work together from different teams?" The brunette began to bawl, tears flowing freely down her smooth features.

Brittany returned as Ashleigh frantically tried to get Terra to stop crying, handing over the golden magnifying glass to the other blonde. "How do I get it to stop?" Ashleigh asked, fear in her eyes.

The other girl shrugged. "What made her so upset?"

"I don't know, one second she was fine and the next, _boom,_ tears everywhere!" Ashleigh, with no better ideas in mind, took Terra by the shoulders and shook her. It at least stopped the sobbing sound and got Terra to look at her. "Stop it! You can't do that!"

With one last sniffle, Terra wiped her eyes and nodded. "O-Okay. I w-w-won't." Content with the answer, Ashleigh turned on her heel and walked on, motioning for the other two to follow. Brittany stuck close behind the new leader, but Terra hung back a bit, her lip still quivering and tears still silently spilling over her eyes.

* * *

_Confessional:_

"That Terra girl really is a trip," Brittany said. "She cries at the drop of a pin! How's she planning on getting anywhere in this game?" With a shake of her head, Brittany continued, "I'll give her one thing: she has a pair of lungs on her."

* * *

"Oh god, he's practically _on top of it,"_ Ashleigh whispered. The three girls were tracking down Terra's object, and had been close to finding it when they hit an obstacle. One of the guys, Parker, had apparently laid down for a nap and fallen asleep right where Terra's object should have been.

"Well what're we gonna do about it?" asked Brittany. "Looks like he's sleeping like a rock over there."

Terra lit up, recognizing the sleeping boy. "Oh, don't worry, Parker is totally cool. We talked on the boat and he practically worships me now. I mean, he doesn't talk much, but he's a great listener. I'll just go over there and ask him to move and I can get my thing. Then we'll go find Brittany's and totally win this!"

Without argument from her alliance, Terra threw herself at the blonde boy. "Parker!" she called cheerfully. At the sound of his name, he opened his eyes, though he made no move to get up.

"What's up, dudette?" he asked groggily.

"Well, see, you're sitting right where my thing is supposed to be." She pointed to her piece of map and showed him the little red X where her prize was supposed to be. "So if you could just get out of the way for a minute, I'll grab it and we'll go."

"Sorry, brah, but I'm kinda stuck." He tried to lift himself into a sitting position, revealing that his entire back was stuck to the tree he was leaning against. It hardly gave any pull and quickly snapped him back into his former place. "I'd move if I could."

Terra screwed up her face in thought. "Then we'll have to get you unstuck," she decided. She grabbed onto his wrists and pulled against the sticky mess, but she wasn't cut out for hard labor. She stumbled backwards, landing hard on her butt with Parker still stuck in place. Tears brimmed in her eyes and she began to wail again, Ashleigh and Brittany covering their ears at the sound.

"Ah, screams of terror," came a voice in the trees. Thrasher dropped down from the branches with a vicious smile. "It's music to my ears." He looked down at the bawling Terra with disdain, walking past her to Parker. "I see you found my trap."

"Dude, you did that?" Parker let out a laugh. "That's awesome. I'm totally stuck!"

The redhead was taken aback, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What?"

"I totally didn't see it coming. I just sat down for a second and couldn't get back up. That's awesome. But could you unstick me now, bro? I still gotta go get that thing we're supposed to find."

"Let me think. Um, no," Thrasher said pointedly. "The thing about villains is that they don't take orders from the hero."

"But he's in the way of _my_ object!" Terra yelled, standing up from her place in the dirt.

"And what does that mean to me?" he challenged.

Without a coherent argument, Terra took a while to respond. Finally, she settled on screeching her lungs out. She squeezed her eyes shut and shrieked, "It's not fair! You can't do this to me! You're a huge jerk and it's not fair that I can't get my thing because of _your_ stupid trap! You let him go right now! I hate you! I hate you!"

Thrasher threw his hands to his ears and cringed. "God, make it stop! Ugh, she sounds like a pterodactyl!"

"Just let him up!" Ashleigh insisted over Terra's screaming. "If you want to be able to hear when you're forty, you'll just go along with it!"

With one last grunt of disapproval, Thrasher pulled Parker off of the tree trunk. When the boy in the beanie was standing once again, he shook Terra, forcing her to open her eyes. "Look! All better! You can stop with that _horrible_ noise now! Please!"

Terra surveyed the situation quietly, giving her audience a content silence, and seemed pleased. "Thank you," she said politely, though with no real respect behind it. She spotted her object underneath a pile of brush and quickly scooped it up, twirling the silver key ring on her finger. "Now, if you'll excuse me, we've got other things to do."

The three girls left the scene, leaving Thrasher and Parker to deal with their ringing ears. "This is all your fault you know," Thrasher accused, stalking off. His own silver key ring jingled in his back pocket as he left. Parker merely looked confused.

* * *

_Confessional:_

"I know what I said about screams of terror being music to my ears, but that was horrific," admitted Thrasher. He shuddered at the memory. "Note to self: don't prank Terra."

* * *

Noel and Murray paraded through the forest, the white-haired girl sticking tiny wreaths and ornaments on everything she could find. Murray followed behind, straightening anything that got skewed when she hung it. Murray already had a golden magnifying glass tucked safely in his hoodie pocket, but Noel was still searching for hers.

"The map says it's right around here somewhere!" Noel reported for the fifth time.

"Yeah? You sure you're reading that right?" asked Murray.

"Of course, silly!" she said with a smile. "Oh, lookie! Shiny thing up ahead!" She rushed forward, Murray following much more slowly, and the two looked up at the magnifying glass balanced precariously on a tree branch up above. The two sported conflicting emotions, Noel's broad grin contrasting with Murray's scowl.

"Now how are you gonna get it?" he asked, arching a thick brown eyebrow.

Noel thought on that for a moment. "Hmm, well we could try climbing up there."

Murray shook his head. "Nope, I'm not climbing up that thing. You can have that adventure yourself."

"What's an adventure without a friend?" Noel pointed out, to which Murray shook his head. "We could try knocking it down."

"With what?" Murray insisted incredulously. "Got a battering ram in that hair-mop of yours?"

The pale girl fluffed her curls protectively. "No…" she muttered, then lit up, saying, "but I do have some tinsel in my sweater! We can use it like a lasso and rope it down!" She proceeded to pull a length of shiny, silvery tinsel from her red sweater, a wide grin on her face.

"And you know how to work a lasso?" asked Murray.

"Oh, don't be so Grinchy, my little Murray Christmas, it can't be that hard!" She began tangling the tinsel together as she spoke. "See, if we tie this part around this, it makes a little loop and we just toss it and the magnifying glass comes down. Easy-peasy!"

With a sigh, Murray moved out the way so she could get a clear shot. There was no way for him to argue with her when she was so intent on enacting this plan. She spun the lasso clumsily and tossed it up, clearly missing the tree branch. She tried again, and again, and again until Noel's cheer finally faltered.

Unable to deal with a distraught Noel, Murray tried his hand at lassoing the object down, but with no luck. The two were at a loss, staring silently at the apparently-unreachable object. In the quiet, Noel heard others passing by and quickly ran to get their help.

"Hey! Could you guys lend us a hand?" Noel called once she caught up with the trio of females that were strolling by, objects in hand.

Ashleigh scoffed. "Why would we help you?" Noel couldn't seem to come up with anything, seeing as general kindness didn't seem to be enough of a reason.

"If she's on our team, we'll need her to make it to the finish line," Brittany pointed out, happily following Noel back to the tree where her magnifying glass was perched. "And it looks like she is," she commented once they got there.

"Here! It'll help!" Noel quickly passed the tinsel-lasso over and the blonde with the braid grinned, showing off her gapped teeth.

"Now this I can do!" she said excitedly. With concentration trained on the object, Brittany pulled back and spun the lasso.

"Brittany! Drop it!" demanded Ashleigh, and the sudden shout caused her to follow direction. "We may be on the same team, but we don't work for free. You're going to pledge your undying loyalty to us, right?" she insisted, a devious smile spreading her full lips.

"No way," stepped in Murray before Noel could dig them in a hole they couldn't get out of. "Anybody who needs undying loyalty for a favor can't be up to anything good."

"But Murray, we _need_ it!" Noel whined pathetically, but Murray shook his head. Ashleigh shrugged and turned, walking off with a show of authority. Terra scampered behind and, after picking up the tinsel and handing it back to Noel, Brittany followed the pair back on track.

"We'll find another way to get it," said Murray, watching the girls leave with a scowl. As they stared up at the tree in thought, a hand swiftly reached out and grabbed the object. Noel's mouth fell open with shock while Murray's eyebrows furrowed in frustration.

Archer jumped from the branch he'd been perched on, safely landing on his feet, and held out the magnifying glass for Noel. "I think this belongs to you?"

Noel's translucent skin flushed with color and she smiled goofily. "Thanks!" she squeaked out, taking the object in shaky hands. Murray's scowl turned softer. "Want us to help you find yours?" she offered.

"Got it already," he informed her, showing the two his own magnifying glass. "I found it under the cabins. I had crawl my way in army-style, but it was no biggie. Basic stuff after you've been through junior military camp."

"Wow," Noel breathed. "I hope we're on the same team."

"Our objects are all really similar," pointed out Murray, "so I'd say that's pretty likely."

Clapping her hands together with joy, Noel said, "Then we can be best friends! Come on, Archer, let's go find the rest of our team and get to the finish line before the others do!" She locked their arms together and pulled him forward, and Murray followed closely behind.

The ragtag group of Cullen, Janelle, Donny, and Surrey-dubbed "Team Awesome" by the Izzy look-alike-were all headed toward the dock, hoping to meet up with their other teammates and find the official finish line. Donny and Surrey had found their objects, two silver key rings, tucked under a boulder and and inside a hornet's nest, respectively. The party had surprisingly come out sting-free, and were enjoying their current success.

As the four made themselves comfortable by the water, a short, sandy-haired contestant came sprinting out of the woods. He stopped just short of knocking over Janelle and doubled over as he panted for breath. "What's got you all worked up?" asked Surrey with disdain.

It took Locke a moment to recover, and even after his breathing had normalized he stayed quiet for a bit as he considered letting them in on his situation. "I'm being pursued by the enemy," he finally settled on, only causing more confusion.

"What does that mean?" Janelle questioned.

"Maps," he insisted. When the four were reluctant, he motioned impatiently for them to hand them over. Finally, with all four maps in hand, he inspected the backs as he had done with Thrasher's. He tsked, then handed them back. "Sorry, can't say anything more. We're officially enemies."

"Come on, we don't have to be that way," Donny insisted.

"But we do," Locke answered. "It's hard enough to trust the people that I have to work with. There's no way I could make myself trust the people I'm competing with."

"Well, who's on your team?" asked Janelle.

Locke hesitated again, his lips pursed in thought. "Since you'll find out anyway...I've deduced that my team will include Ashleigh, Brittany, and Archer, while I'll be against Thrasher and you four. But I haven't inspected the rest of the group yet."

"How'd you figure that out?" pushed the blonde.

"Classified," Locke said, holding up a hand to stop her. "I'm not at liberty to give away any tactics that could be used in future challenges."

With a roll of her eyes, Janelle let the matter drop, and they left Locke alone. Not long after, Thrasher emerged from the woods. He seemed to eye Locke especially carefully as he joined the group. "Find the finish line yet?" he asked.

"We're still waiting for our teams," Donny informed him.

"What a coincidence, me too. Hand over your map, Cirque du So-Loser," Thrasher instructed, snatching the paper from his hand. A wicked smile crossed Thrasher's lips and made Donny go paler than he already was. "Looks like we're teammates, buddy!" he said all-too-excitedly.

"Great…" the dark-haired boy muttered, taking back his map. "Well, let's put our maps together and see if we can figure out where we're supposed to go."

"Love to, but we still need Pigtails and one other to show up. And my guess is she won't get here until the Blonde Wondertwins finish up whatever they wanna do." He leaned back on one of the supporting posts of the dock, unfolding his map and looking it over.

"Do you have to call everyone rude names?" Janelle piped up. "You could actually learn our _real_ names, you know."

"Cut me some slack, it's only the first day. And how do you expect me to remember everyone when people like Madam Identity Theft over there keeps changing her face?" He pointed over to Cullen, who was sitting in the sand, a giant hole in front of her and a multitude of seashells that she'd found lined up on either side.

Janelle huffed, but didn't give him the satisfaction of an answer. With a shrug, Thrasher looked back down at his map, content to wait out Terra and whoever else was on their team.

It wasn't long before Locke's team started arriving, first with Noel, Murray, and Archer. Unlike Thrasher, Locke wanted to start putting the maps together immediately, thinking he could put the pieces together even without all of the members present. Soon Brittany and Ashleigh arrived, Terra close on their tail, and the group made both teams only short a single player.

Finally bored with looking over his map, Thrasher looked to Surrey, who was boredly staring at her nails. "Ten bucks says we get Mr. President," he joked playfully.

"Don't talk to me," Surrey responded curtly.

Thrasher threw up his hands in mock defense, saying, "Jeez, sorry. Didn't realize today was Bloody Sunday." This got him a glare, but no more reaction out of the pale girl.

Cain finally arrived, joining his team and finally completing the map. The group headed off, Thrasher teasing the others as they passed. As they passed back through the trees, minds set on a final destination for the day, Thrasher turned back to Surrey with a simple wink and, "I'll put that ten bucks on your tab."

"Should we go look for him?" Brittany asked, tired of sitting around at the dock for Parker. He was the only one that was still off on his own, and who knows if he had found his object yet. Archer offered to find him, promising, "I'll be back in a bit," and then jogging off into the forest.

* * *

_Confessional:_

"Now that I've sorted out the teams, I'll need to find someone to align with for the time being." Locke began to tick off on his fingers, "Murray, Noel, and Parker are all expendable. Brittany and Ashleigh are obviously working together, so whatever goes in one's ear, comes right out the other's. All that leaves is Archer." He stared at his fingers, hoping he'd forgotten someone that would be useful to him. With careful consideration, he spoke again, "Or I guess I'm not against the idea of enlisting a double agent…"

* * *

"Congratulations!" Chris greeted as the disheveled teens finally approached the finish line, clear on the opposite side of the island. They were all exhausted, which Chris seemed a little too pleased about. "You're the first full team to arrive here, which makes you guys the winners!"

Cain furrowed his brows. "First _full_ team?" he asked.

"Yeah, Parker found his way over here without his team." Chris pointed to the capped blonde resting against a nearby tree. Upon seeing him, Terra lit up and called out excitedly with a wave, "Hi, Parker!"

"Can we trade Lady Lungs over here for him?" Thrasher asked, pointing a finger at Terra. Chris shook his head, leaving Thrasher with a scowl.

"You can hang out here until the other team arrives," Chris told them.

It was another hour before anyone showed up, but it was Archer. And he was all by himself. Upon seeing Parker, he quickly pulled him up. "There you are, man! The whole team has been waiting for you back at the dock!"

"But I found the finish line, dude." Parker pointed lazily over to Chris.

"And you didn't come tell anyone?"

"I didn't know where you were."

Archer sighed. "I'm gonna go get the rest of the team. Don't move," he instructed. Parker jokingly saluted him with a, "You got it, dude," and Archer ran off in the direction he'd come.

It was a half hour before Archer returned with the rest of the team, the sun now setting behind Chris as they strode up. "It's about time you got here!" Chris complained. "But I can't declare the challenge over until everyone is past the finish line."

The entire team seemed to turn simultaneously toward Parker, who was still standing exactly where he'd been told to stay by Archer. With a roll of her eyes, Ashleigh snapped her fingers and called out, "Parker! Here boy!" Answering to the call like an animal, he perked up momentarily and ran to the team's side, his caller content with its effectiveness.

"Alright, now that we're all finally here," Chris began, "it's time to declare the obvious winners of the challenge, as well as officially give you your teams." The host held up two manila folders, each with large, red letters stamped on them that read _"Classified Information."_ The teams opened the folders and browsed the contents. The winning team, consisting of Thrasher, Surrey, Terra, Donny, Janelle, Cain, and Cullen, was dubbed the Deadly Detectives The others-Ashleigh, Locke, Archer, Brittany, Noel, Murray, and Parker-were the Savage Sleuths.

"Those folders contain your team assignments and names. Inside, you'll also find the location of your team bunker. This building will help you find the stashes of money hidden all over the island, and every time you win a challenge, you get a new clue." Chris turned to the Sleuths specifically. "And the losers will send someone home tonight, and you better hurry. I want this ceremony done tonight."

* * *

_Confessional:_

"It looks like my entire team is full of losers!" Ashleigh said with false enthusiasm. "I can't use any of them. Except Brittany, of course. And at least Archer is on my team," she added dreamily.

* * *

"Welcome, campers, to the first elimination ceremony of the season. Some of you fought hard. Some of you thought on your feet. Some of you put forth more effort today than you have in your entire lives. And you're all still losers!" Chris punctuated the statement with a grin.

Holding up a handful of small, plastic cards, the host continued his speech. "This season, each safe camper will receive an ID card. If you do not receive an ID card, you will be sent home via the Plane of Shame." The campers directed their attention toward the rickety biplane that Chris was pointing toward. Chef awaited them in the cockpit and the contestants shuddered as part of a duct-taped wing fell off.

There was no time to question safety as Chris began calling out names. "Locke and Archer, you're safe." He handed each an ID, complete with their names and pictures. "Ashleigh and Murray," Chris called, handing off their IDs as well. "And Brittany." Once the bandana-clad girl had received her card, Chris smirked at the two remaining players.

Noel sat worriedly, chewing on the sleeves of her sweater with fear in her eyes. Parker seemed more amused than anything, though his vision was glazed over and he didn't seem to be paying attention at all. "Noel, Parker, I only have one more ID left to hand out." He held up the card, cleverly pointing it away from the contestants' view so they couldn't ruin the suspense. "The first camper voted out on Total Drama Search Party…is…" Chris drew out the silence, the grin on his face only widening. "...Parker."

Parker stood as Chris handed off the last ID to Noel and he turned to say goodbye. "It was cool being here, man," he said to everyone, his hands buried in his pockets as he rocked back and forth on his heels. "Hey Archer? Can you tell Terra I said bye?"

"Oh, don't tell me you're _into her,_" came Ashleigh's intrusive voice.

"Nah, but she always says hi to me, so I figure I owe her one, you know?" he responded sincerely.

"I'll make sure she gets the message," promised Archer with a small smile. With a nod, Parker contentedly followed Chris to the awaiting biplane and was soon on his way off the island. Whether he'd make it to the destination was an entirely different question.

Chris turned to the cameras, ready to sign out the show. "With Parker gone, will the Savage Sleuths start winning competitions? Or will the Deadly Detectives dominate this game? And who will go home next in that death trap of a plane? Tune in next time for Total Drama Search Party!"

In the girls' cabin, Terra's wails could be heard, mourning Parker's elimination. But Thrasher had carefully stuffed his head into his pillow, successfully muffling most of the sound. His eyes were closed, but he wasn't quite asleep yet.

A tap on the head made his eyes jolt open. He almost jumped out of his bed in shock when he saw Locke balanced above him, hanging upside down. "How are you doing that?" he asked.

"Not important," insisted the small Sleuth. His voice was low and secretive. "I've been thinking about your proposition from earlier."

Thrasher's interest piqued. "I thought you didn't want to work together," he pointed out, a dark eyebrow arched.

"I didn't. But now I do. I need a man on the inside and you need my cunning mind."

"Not shy on the compliments, are you?" Thrasher joked.

Locke rolled his eyes. "Are you in or not?"

Thrasher considered, then he shrugged. "Yeah, alright. I'm game." The two shook hands and, just as quickly as he'd appeared, Locke pulled himself back up to the ceiling and out of a small ventilation grate in the wall. As the spy disappeared out the opening, Thrasher chuckled a bit. "He is _good,_" he whispered to himself.


	2. Chapter 2: Inspector Gadgets and Gizmos

_Chapter 2: Inspector Gadgets and Gizmos_

The island was alive with campers as they awoke after their first night in the cabins. Though the beds were lumpy at best, the teens seemed to sleep decently. Since Chris hadn't called them for a challenge, they had awoken on their own accords.

"Do you think it looks okay?" Janelle asked as she tied her bun for the fourth time. She looked to Surrey expectantly, who hardly looked up from her laptop before shrugging. The blonde scoffed. "Can you please take this seriously?" she insisted frantically.

"What are you even freaking out about?" Surrey objected. "It looks the same as it did yesterday."

"Oh no, that's not good," Janelle muttered, taking her hair down again. She shook out her blonde curls before gathering them up to try again. "My hair looked terrible yesterday. I can't have that be the norm if I wanna impress him."

This caught Surrey's attention. "Who?" She arched an eyebrow. "You mean—"

Janelle motioned for Surrey to stay quiet. "Yes! _Him._ But we don't need the whole camp knowing or he'll find out."

"Aw, got a little crush already?" Ashleigh crooned from her own bunk, grabbing the girls' attention. She was fluffing her blonde hair while Terra held up her mirror,, a bored expression on the brunette's face. "Which one is it?" When Janelle hesitated, she pursed her lips. "Come on, we're all girls here. You can trust us."

Janelle rolled her eyes. "I'd rather keep it to myself, thanks," she said, forcing a smile.

"Come on, Jan-gle Bells, tell us!" Noel cheered. "Is it the cute one?"

Janelle arched an eyebrow and Surrey responded, "Wow, real specific, Noel."

"Just spill it already," insisted Terra. She looked extremely anxious for something more interesting than pampering Ashleigh.

Janelle flushed a deep red before frantically looking around and asking, "Hey guys, where's Cullen?"

* * *

_Confessional:_

"I know it'd just be easier to tell everyone that I like Donny, but I've seen the things girls like Ashleigh can do. I mean, I don't really know her, but she just _looks_ like one of those girls that takes everything you like and stomps it into the ground just to spite you." Janelle bit her lip, panic crossing her face. "I can't even imagine what horrible things she'd do to Donny if she found out."

* * *

"Are the suspenders too much?" Donny asked, pulling them off for the fourth time. He sighed, pulled them back up, and then took them off again. "This is a disaster," he sighed.

Thrasher pushed open the door with authority, his hair still dripping from his shower. "Who are you even talking—AHH GIRL." The redhead stumbled backwards into Cain, who was entering after a shower of his own.

Both Donny and Cullen—now dressed as B from _Revenge of the Island_—stared, mouths agape. Thrasher scrambled to his feet, readjusting the towel that covered him. "This is hardly professional," scolded Cain as he stepped around Thrasher and entered the cabin. The dark-haired boy was mostly clothed, only missing his sweater vest and his hair wet and messy.

"Yeah, you tell 'em," Thrasher said as he quickly followed and rifled through his bag for a pair of pants. "How could you bring a girl into our man cave, dude?"

"I meant _both of you,_" Cain clarified.

"Me? He's the one that let a chick in!"

"And _you're_ the one that traversed the entire camp with nothing but a towel, expecting to make it the whole way without running into a single female." Cain pulled his sweater vest over his head and straightened it until he was satisfied.

"Archer said the coast was clear," Thrasher muttered defensively. He had successfully gotten everything but a shirt on, which didn't bother him nearly as much.

"Besides, Cullen is the last girl you'd need to worry about in here," Donny pointed out. He and Cullen had both broken into grins from Thrasher's fit. Cullen offered B's signature snap-and-point, though nothing verbal.

"It's the _principle_," Thrasher scoffed, earning amused looks from everyone. Not liking the belittling looks he was getting, he swiftly added, "Hey, anyone seen Locke?"

Locke stumbled into the open groggily, shielding his eyes from the intrusive light. He'd spent the entire night holed up in his team's bunker, attempting to decipher the location of at least one stash of money. It was obvious he hadn't slept a wink the entire night because his usually alert eyes were bleary and accentuated with dark circles. He grunted with irritation, having spent an entire night researching with zero results.

He was the last to get his shower—even after Ashleigh's makeshift spa treatment—and he shuffled back to the guys' cabin still dripping wet. Unlike Thrasher, however, he was entire dressed when he entered, though he wouldn't have noticed Cullen's presence had he been stark naked. The sandy-haired boy fell hard onto his bunk and almost immediately fell asleep, attracting confused stares from everyone in the room.

"What's with him?" Thrasher asked, jabbing a finger in his direction.

No one had an answer, but Archer burst in before they had a chance to speculate. "Chris wants us to meet in the mess hall right now," he informed them excitedly. Archer hadn't yet grasped the fact that challenges were not fun for anyone involved—unless they were Chris, of course.

* * *

_Confessional:_

"It probably wasn't my smartest decision staying up all night trying to find the cash," admitted Locke with a yawn. He rubbed his eyes and attempted to focus them, but they still seemed glazed over. "I can't let this get in the way of the challenge, though. Those clues are our only resource to help us find the money."

* * *

The two teams sat separated in the mess hall, each with a laptop sitting in front of them. Chris stood between the two tables, grinning as usual. "Welcome to your second challenge!"

Surrey shook out her wrists and cracked her knuckles, a smug look on her face. "If it has anything to do with this laptop, I'm your kid."

"You better hope so. Each of these computers holds instructions on how to get through the next part of the challenge safely. If you want that advantage, I suggest you find them. You only have half an hours to get those instructions, or you're going into the next part blind. Go!"

"Like I said, I'm your kid," Surrey repeated. "I could do this in my sleep."

Thrasher leaned over Surrey's shoulder, looking at the screen as she began searching through the computer. "I hate to burst your bubble, hot stuff, but it looks like Locke _is_ doing it in his sleep." He pointed over to the other team where Lock's fingers flew over the keyboard as if they had a mind of their own.

"What the—" Surrey turned her full attention to the computer, eyes narrowed in concentration. She tried to match the speed of her opponent, but it sounded like he was zooming past her.

Thrasher smirked and backed away from Surrey's work. Now that Surrey had her head in the game, he could focus on his alliance. Quietly, he slipped over to the other side, watching carefully.

* * *

_Confessional:_

"There's a fine line between helping my alliance and helping myself," Thrasher stated, eyes darting around the confessional as he thought. "If I help Locke too much, my team will never win and eventually they'll suspect sabotage and vote me off. I mean, I'm not exactly the most _innocent_ looking guy on the team. But if I don't help Locke at all and prove that our alliance is a sham, any leads he has on the money will be kept secret. It's a very delicate procedure, but...I think I can handle it."

* * *

"You're wasting your time checking there," Thrasher muttered to Locke. Unfortunately, it attracted the attention of the team.

"Hey, what's a dirty Detective doing over here?" asked Ashleigh, backing away as though he were deathly ill.

"Don't listen to him, man, he's trying to trick you," Archer told Locke, though he had no idea that Locke had actually followed Thrasher's advice.

The rest of the team was completely lost when it came to computers. Locke had come to find out that hardly any of them had even bothered to _use_ the tech, much less understand it. Ashleigh thought the keyboard looked "grimy," Brittany didn't understand how it worked without a plug, Noel was too preoccupied trying to tie bows to the corners of it, Murray had agreed with Ashleigh and opted not to touch it, and Archer could have disassembled and reassembled it if necessary, but didn't even know what "software" was. Luckily, Thrasher was watching both teams, and whatever Surrey knew, Locke would soon know, too.

"What are you doing over here, you sleezeball?" Ashleigh insisted, putting Brittany between them like a human shield.

Thrasher arched his eyebrows in surprise. "I just came over to wish you all good luck." His eyes darted around quickly and he grabbed Noel by the shoulders, making her jump and pulling her attention away from the skewed bows. "And to visit my good friend, Noel. I thought she could use a little encouragement, since her team hasn't been giving her any." Thrasher sighed dramatically, as if offended on Noel's part, and smiled sweetly at the plump girl. "The bows look _adorable_, Noel."

She broke into a goofy grin and waved a hand dismissively. Her pale face seemed to flush red as she tucked her chin farther into the thick collar of her turtleneck sweater. "Aw, thank you, my little Pain-Deer. You're so sweet!"

Ashleigh gagged, a finger pointed toward her open mouth. "You're so bad at lying it hurts."

Thrasher sighed theatrically. "Well, if I _must_ go. My team needs me anyhow. Later, Spray Tan!" The redhead left, leaving the Sleuths to their search.

On the other side of the mess hall, the Detectives weren't doing much better. "We need a plan of attack in case we can't get our hands on those instructions," Cain was saying.

"What makes you think we won't?" scoffed Terra. "I mean, look at her go! She's like...a hacker or something."

"It's not really hacking—" began Surrey, but Cain cut her off with a sharp, "Less talking, more typing." With a sigh, she fell silent once more.

"We're simply planning for all possible outcomes," continued Cain. "With only twenty minutes left on the clock, I'd say now is as good a time as any."

"Great, then you've got a plan?" piped up Janelle, who had just pulled her eyes away from Donny, who was sitting on the other side of Surrey.

"I saw we figure out their weakest qualities and attack from there."

"How political of you," Thrasher teased with a smirk.

A scowl crossed the darker boy's face. "Since you're so very comfortable with the other team, why don't I put _you_ in charge of finding their weak spot?" When Thrasher tried to seem confused, Cain straightened up and grew smug. "You think we didn't notice you just disappear? You must think I'm a fool."

"Not the only thing I think about you," Thrasher muttered, causing Cain to arch an eyebrow. "Look, Locke is about to drop dead from lack of sleep and nobody besides him would know what to do with a computer. That team is collectively dumber than a sack of carrots. We're way smarter than them."

Janelle tapped a finger to her chin. "Carrots have IQs of about four. I would assume the amount of 'a sack' to be somewhere around ten, possibly more. So that's at least 40." The blank looks from her teammates made her blush. "Uh...In case you...were...wondering..."

"See? This one knows math," Thrasher said, patting Janelle on the head like a dog.

* * *

_Confessional:_

"Gosh, Janelle is super smart," Donny swooned. "I don't know if she'd like a guy like me...I can barely _read."_

* * *

"Ugh, this is getting us nowhere," whined Ashleigh. "I hate this stupid thing. Can you just crack the stupid code or whatever and get us those instructions? We're running out of time."

"I'm going as fast as I can. If I went any faster, the computer would overload," Locke answered. He yawned heavily before turning his attention back to the screen.

"Brittany, make this go faster," demanded Ashleigh.

With a glance between Ashleigh and the computer, Brittany shrugged and grabbed the laptop. She smashed it into the ground, causing the device to shatter into thousands of pieces and the entire team to leap in shock. "I don't know about code, but I sure cracked something."

"What was that?" Locke shrieked, suddenly more alert than he'd been all morning. "You ruined our chances of winning! You completely destroyed it! What were you thinking?" He sighed. "Archer, can you rebuild it or something?"

"Ooh, ooh! Look, the instructions!" cheered Noel, picking up a folded piece of paper out of the shards of computer, along with her stray bows. She unfolded it, looking over it happily. "The next part of the challenge is an obstacle course! And this tells us exactly how to get through it!"

While most of the Sleuths looked over Noel's shoulders in a frantic attempt to read the instructions for themselves, Murray knelt onto the ground and began cleaning up the remains of the computer, piling things up beside him in various categories of shape, size, color, and anything else he could think of.

"Looks like the Savage Sleuths have found their instructions!" announced Chris. "They can move on to the next part of the challenge. Detectives, you have five minutes left to find your instructions and catch up!"

"Come on, guys, we gotta get going or this lead will mean nothing!" Locke insisted, pushing the team out the door. _"Come on, Murray."_ He grabbed the boy by his hoodie sleeve, pulling him out the door behind them.

Noel stopped, waving to the other team with a grin. "Bye everyone!" She giggled before saying, "Bye, Sugar Plum!" Locke reached back and pulled her along, Murray still gripped in his other hand. Then the Sleuths disappeared through the doorway.

"Who was she talking to?" Donny asked, looking to Cullen, who just shrugged.

"Ugh, we don't have time to care!" insisted Terra. "Just do whatever they did!"

Cullen smirked, giving another point-and-snap. She pulled a wrench from one of her large coat pockets, twirling it in her hand before slamming it into the laptop and shattering it. Surrey yelped, a lot of horror painting her features.

Terra grabbed the instructions from the rubble and waved it in the air triumphantly. "Who's got the master plan _now_, huh Cain?" she gloated haughtily. She waved the paper in his face, causing him to scowl.

"Uh, you guys might wanna get going," Chris called. "Come on, you're falling behind!" He blasted his air horn in their direction, causing the team to jump into action. They ran out of the mess hall quickly, hoping to catch up with the others.

* * *

_Confessional:_

"Thrasher's awfully cute," Noel told the camera, grin wide and goofy as usual. "He has a little bit of a Grinch-y look, but it's just _so cute!_ Oh, I bet I could be little Cindy Lou Who and make his bitter, black, little heart grow _twelve_ sizes! All he needs is love!"

* * *

The Sleuths had reached the course outside and were standing on the starting platform, figuring out a plan. In front of them, a huge, rickety-looking course stretched out, featuring a maze of metal, a murky-looking pool of some kind, and vicious animals.

"This looks like a disaster. There's no way this is safe," Murray insisted, scowling heavily at the course below him. His hands were buried deep in his pockets, fidgeting with a broken piece of computer he'd picked up before they left.

"Look at it as an adventure, Murray-Flurry!" Noel cheered, putting an arm over his shoulder and motioning toward the course in an attempt to sell the idea. "We'll be in and out like that!"

"Archer!" Ashleigh called. "You're so _strong_ and _talented_. I'm sure you could get us through this nasty little course!"

Archer shrugged. "Probably. I've been doing stuff like this since I was in diapers. Nothing to worry about, Ash." After taking a second to look over the impending course, he motioned for the others to follow, Ashleigh quickly following on his heels.

Brittany followed closely behind her alliance leader, and the rest of the team followed suit. "Did you hear that, Britt? He called me _Ash._" Ashleigh stifled a girlish squeal before addressing the confusion on the country girl's face. "He obviously has the hots for me. I mean, who wouldn't? I'm, you know, _hot."_

"Sure thing, but shouldn't we have Noel in the front? She's got the instructions." Brittany looked back at the rest of their team. "She isn't going to be much good from the back."

"Didn't you hear him, though? Archer's got this handled. He's basically a professional."

The Detectives weren't far behind, Terra leading them as she focused on the instructions. "Hmm...they're kinda hard to understand. Ugh, it's like reading Charles Dixon."

_"Dickinson,"_ Janelle corrected, receiving a glare from the brunette.

"Are you sure you can read, Cappucci-Nut?" Thrasher said, looking over her shoulder. "It's not written in Elvish."

"What kind of dork language is that?" Terra asked, her face crumpling in disgust.

"One you can't appreciate," he hissed, snatching the page from her hands. "Look, the instructions say we go this way!" he said, pointing toward the maze of metal bars and spikes. The team began to enter the forest of metal, following Thrasher as he directed them deeper and deeper.

Donny fidgeted in the dim light, looking between Janelle and his feet. "You know, Janelle, if you get scared, I'm always here to—" The blonde quickly interlocked their arms, cutting him off.

"G-Good idea, Don. Like the buddy system, right? If we get lost, we'll have each other."

* * *

_Confessional:_

Janelle twirled one of the strands of hair that framed her face. "This is like a date, right?"

* * *

As they traveled farther into the dark spike forest, Ashleigh let out a piercing scream. "Oh my god, this is the fourth time you've done that, _stop it,"_ insisted Locke, covering his ears again.

"I'm just so terrified!" the blonde sniffed. "I think I need someone to hold me." When she got no response, she stomped her foot a bit and huffed. "I really need _someone_ to protect me! An arm over my shoulder, a hand to hold, _something."_

Upon hearing her cries, Noel pushed to the front, knocking everyone else out of the way. She threw her arms around Ashleigh, saying, "Don't worry, Ash-Sleigh, I'll make sure you don't get scared. If you do, just hug me _real _tight, and we'll get through this together!"

"Don't call me that," hissed the taller girl.

"Ah, I think one of these dumb spikes put a gash in my leg," said Brittany, lifting her foot to check the damage. A bit of blood trickled down her ankle.

Archer stopped, turning back toward his hurt teammate. "Don't worry, I know everything there is to know about first aid." He knelt down next to her, carefully surveying the situation. "Does anyone have anything they're willing to give up as a bandage?"

"Whoa there, it ain't life-threatening. You don't have to go crazy over it," Brittany insisted.

"No way, we can't let this get infected. You could lose this leg if that happens."

"Well, if it's that serious..." Brittany pulled the bandanna from her head, handing it over. "Tie it up with this. Wouldn't be the first time I've used it to plug something up."

Archer swiftly bandaged her and stood, insisting that Brittany lean on him so she wouldn't have to put so much weight on it. The team began moving again, all unaware of the glare that was plastered over Ashleigh's face.

* * *

_Confessional:_

Ashleigh gripped the concrete of the confessional's seat, her knuckles going white. "She wants to play damsel in distress with _my man_, does she?" Ashleigh's eye twitched a bit and she let out a dark chuckle. "Well, two can play at that game..."

* * *

"This can't be right," Thrasher muttered, stopping as he reached another impassable wall of spikes. The team grumbled behind him, tired of the interruptions. "It's like this map is leading us everywhere _but_ where we want to go."

Terra snatched the paper back from him. "That's because you're reading it wrong, duh." She stared intensely at the paper, shifting it side to side and flipping it upside down constantly. "Probably holding it upside down like an idiot or something."

"Miss Terra, if you'd kindly let me see the map?" asked Cain with an outstretched hand. He'd calmed down since the mess hall and was back to his usual calm and polite self. "I'm sure I could figure this out if you'd just let me—"

"Oh my god, you don't think I can do it," Terra accused, giving Cain a hurt look.

"No, of course not, but I just think that perhaps two heads are better than one, you know." He grabbed the paper and tried to pull it from her grip, but Terra held tight.

The girl began to sob. "You think just because I'm a _girl_ that I can't keep up with you, is that it? That's so sexist! You're such a pig! I can't even believe you would say these things to me!"

"I didn't—? I'm not sure you're fully grasping—Please, this is no time to cry. If you would just—Please stop."

"Wait, that's it!" Janelle's voice rang through Terra's tears, causing the group to turn back. Her face was alight with understand and she quickly reached from the instructions, which Terra handed to her simply to spite Cain. She looked over the page quickly. "Thrasher's been following these instructions to a T. But there's no doubt in my mind that Chris is the one who wrote these things—or an intern, seeing as he couldn't be bothered to lift a finger, but I digress. He's probably leading us the _wrong way._ Wouldn't it be just like Chris McLean to throw us into harm's way rather than keep us out of it?"

"So you're saying the instructions were useless?" Surrey piped up. "What was the point of finding them then?"

"Probably just got a kick out of the whole thing," scoffed Thrasher, crossing his arms over his chest with irritation.

"Most likely," agreed Janelle. "These instructions are just going to hinder us. But now that we've completely lost our bearings, I'd say we won't do much better without them."

"You think if we do the opposite of what the instructions say, we'll find the right way out of here?" Donny suggested.

Janelle nodded. "That sounds good. If the instructions tell us to go left, we go right. Down, we go up. Et cetera, et cetera. Good idea, Donny!"

The boy flushed red, but was quickly pulled forward by Janelle before he could thank her. The group was moving again, the leadership swiftly changing and pushing the team's hotheads to the back of the pack.

* * *

_Confessional:_

"The team is totally not giving me any credit when I deserve it," complained Terra. "It's like they don't want to me to do well. I mean, what kind of jerks do that? Ugh, I wish I was with Ashleigh and Brittany. They appreciate me."

* * *

The Sleuths had made it out of the spike forest with Archer's help and had hardly been slowed down by Brittany's accident. They had reached the next leg of the race—the giant murky pool.

"Oh, no way am I going in that," Ashleigh insisted.

Beside her, Murray nodded. "For once, I agree with you."

"Last one in's roadkill!" cheered Brittany before jumping into the pool. She broke the thick, slimy film and disappeared, only to resurface a few feet forward, already swimming for the other side. "Come on, you slowpokes! The water's fine!"

"Aw yeah! I've got three years of gold-medal swim comps under my belt, this'll be a piece of cake!" shouted Archer as he jumped in right after the blonde. He quickly caught up, the two laughing and splashing each other as they swam to the other side.

"What does she think she's _doing?"_ Ashleigh fumed.

From behind them, the shouts of the other team began to come out of the metal maze. Locke pushed Ashleigh forward frantically, demanding, "Whatever's got you so angry needs to only fuel your speed. Now get in there and _swim!"_

"No, oh my god, no, stop pushing me, I swear if you—AHH!" Finally slipping over the edge, Ashleigh fell fast into the pool, resurfacing with smeared makeup and frizzy hair. She glared at Locke, who had swiftly jumped in after her. "You little—I'll get you for that!"

"You'll have to catch me first, Princess!" Locke called back, a smug smirk itching at his lips. Sure enough, Ashleigh quickly began to swim after him, grumbling as she kicked.

* * *

_Confessional:_

"I may be a solo act, but I've studied a lot of manipulation," explained Locke smugly. "It's like a second language for me at this point. And Ashleigh is oh so easy to pull around—like a puppet." He mimed manipulating the strings on a puppet and arched an eyebrow. "I've got her wrapped around my finger."

* * *

As the Detectives burst through into the open, only Noel and Murray were left on the bank. "There!" called Surrey, pointing after the Sleuths. "Quick! Into the water!"

"Oh boy...Come on, Candy Cane, time to get moving!" Noel insisted, trying to pull Murray along. He was much stronger, leaving them both hopelessly immobile. Cain and Terra followed the rest of the team, ignoring their opponents as they glared at each other.

Surrey, Cullen, and Thrasher had already jumped past them, swimming toward the other side as fast as they could. Janelle stopped on the bank, Donny almost knocking her in as he followed close behind. "I-I don't know, I don't swim so well," she admitted, looking to Donny with fear.

"Don't worry, I've got you," insisted the boy. He held out a hand for her to take, which she gladly accepted. "We'll jump in on three, okay?" Janelle nodded quickly, both of them smiling goofily at the other, and Donny began the countdown. "One...Two...Three!"

A big splash left Noel and Murray soaked by the pool water, and Janelle and Donny swam off together, leaving the other two behind. Noel ogled, doe-eyed. "Aw, they're so cute together, don't you think?" She turned to Murray, her eyes alight, saying, "Why don't we do what they did? I'll help you over there and we'll make it together!"

Murray sighed. "I'm already soaked anyway, I guess it can't get any worse." He took one more glance at the water then shrugged, saying, "Fine. Let's do this."

Finally, the whole camp was off and swimming toward the finish line. Brittany and Archer were far ahead of the others, leaving them as the first to meet up with the vicious animal Chris had planted on the course.

"SHARK!" Brittany shouted, the fanged monster breaking the surface of the water to reveal its full set of enormous teeth. Behind them, they could hear the screams of the other campers that had seen the monster ahead of time. The beast bolted toward them like a torpedo, giving them little time to act.

"Don't worry, I'm a trained lifeguard," Archer insisted, putting himself between Brittany and the shark. He braced himself for the creature's attack, though he had no real plan of action.

As the shark opened its jaws to swallow them, Brittany pushed Archer out of the way and decked the beast in the nose, causing it to wince and back up, startled. She rubbed her fist and braced herself to throw another. She smirked back at Archer, who stared at her in awe, and said smugly, "And I"m a trained critter-wrangler."

* * *

_Confessional:_

"I've spent my whole life in the shadow of my three older brothers," said Brittany pointedly, "so if you think I'm letting _another_ guy show me up, you got another thing coming." She pushed a finger into her chest to make a point. _"I _can handle myself." After a moment, Brittany shrugged. "Archer is good competition, though. Keeps me on my toes. Just like my brothers."

* * *

_Confessional:_

"Brittany's kinda intense," admitted Archer. "I've never seen anyone punch a shark before. Not even me." His eyes were still wide, remembering the event well. "You think she'd teach me how to do that?"

* * *

"Come on, there's the finish line!" shouted Archer as he began to swim forward again. Brittany turned to see him gaining distance on her and her eyes narrowed with concentration. She shot through the water at full speed, leaving the shark behind in the wake of her waves.

As the shark regained its composure, it turned toward the two front campers, attracted by the smell of Brittany's wound, and readied another attack. Suddenly, a hard_ splash_ grabbed the shark's attention. It turned around and bared its teeth at the sight of Ashleigh, readying another rock to throw at the beast.

"Oh no, whatever will I do?" called Ashleigh with mock fear. "This shark will eat me if _someone_ doesn't save me soon!" She tossed another rock toward the shark, missing by a long shot, and continued crying out to deaf ears.

Locke began to swim past, completely in the clear, when he stopped at the sight of Ashleigh not moving. "You've gotta be kidding me," he muttered, and he went back and pulled her out of the shark's line of attack just in time.

The rest of the teens tried to avoid the shark as it reared up again, but Thrasher headed straight toward the beast, determination gleaming in his eyes. Across the pool, Donny yelled, "Thrasher, what are you doing? That thing is a monster!"

With a laugh, Thrasher yelled back, "I don't run from monsters. They run from me!" As the redhead took the full attention of the shark, the other campers were able to fly past him safely. The two vicious fighters tussled for a while, but Thrasher had a strategy.

* * *

_Confessional:_

Thrasher had a proud grin on his face as he said, "A great psycho once said, 'Once one controls something, one no longer need fear it.' I live by those words. And this was no different."

* * *

Donny was pulling Janelle onto shore when another scream rang out, shouting, "It's coming back!" The two Detectives scrambled over the finish line to safety, leaving only Murray and Noel left in the water.

"If that shark gets to them, they're toast!" Janelle cried frantically.

"Wait, look!" Donny said, pointing toward the approaching creature. "That's—"

Janelle's eyes went wide and her face pale. "You don't think he'd—"

But the shark was fast enough, despite Thrasher's insistence, and Noel and Murray were out of the water and past the finish line before he could reach them. Instead, the shark slowed and let a grinning Thrasher onto the beach with zero bloodshed. He confidently passed the finish line, loving the look of fear on everyone's faces.

"And that's the end of the competition!" Chris called, driving up to the contestants on his ATV. "Since Thrasher decided to make friends with the shark, the Savage Sleuths win!"

Thrasher looked shocked, though the rest of his team sported glares. "What? I didn't—? You're kidding! Ugh, this is so not how this was supposed to happen!"

Cain shook his head. "That was just sloppy."

"Thanks a lot, _loser,"_ chimed in Terra.

"So that means that the Deadly Detectives will be sending someone home tonight!" announced Chris. "And the Savage Sleuths get a new clue on the location of the money." The group was tossed a manila envelope holding the clue, which Locke dove to catch before it fell into the water. He stood and bolted, not even waiting to be dismissed before running off to his team's bunker. "Hey! I didn't tell you to go anywhere!" Chris called after him, but Locke was long gone. "Ugh, fine! You're all dismissed. See you Detectives at the elimination ceremony tonight!"

* * *

_Confessional:_

"I think we _all_ know who's going home tonight," said Cain. "Am I worried? Definitely not. I've got enough pull in this group to influence every single elimination ceremony."

* * *

Cain exited the confessional, only to hear the raving shouts of Terra in front of the girls' cabin. "I'm telling you, he's _mad with power!_ We should send _him_ home!"

"I guess he's a little hotheaded," admitted Janelle as she rang out her hair into the grass. "But nothing to warrant such a harsh reaction, don't you think?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Cain innocently. He smiled politely at the group on the stairs, giving expectant glances to Donny, Janelle, Surrey, and Cullen. He could feel Terra's sidelong glare, but chose to ignore it for the time being.

"Just trying to decide who to vote out" Donny said, receiving a nod from the ladies.

"And _you're_ next to go, buddy!" Terra snapped, shoving an accusatory finger in his face.

Cain's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He simply offered a forgiving smile to the brunette before saying, "Well, I surely don't know why you'd want to send me home. Whatever I've done to make you feel this way, you can bet I offer my sincerest apologies, Miss Terra." The girl's scowl didn't let up, so he turned to the rest of the group. "But if I may, I feel I should be allowed to make a case for myself so you're not going into this vote blindly."

Terra crossed her arms. "Go ahead, dig your own grave," she muttered, giving him the floor.

"Perhaps I shall, Miss Terra," he said plainly before stepping forward. Arms crossed behind his back and shoulders squared, Cain took a deep breath and began. "My fellow teammates, I feel I must remind you that it was _I_ who stepped up to lead you when no one else would. It was _I_ who offered my ideas to the group when there were none. You recall, don't you?" He received cautious nods from the others, but he could see he wasn't winning their votes.

He quirked an eyebrow, preparing a new approach. "And may I remind you, it was not I who lost my temper at the drop of a hat. It was not I who antagonized everyone in the group. It was not _I_ who did't offer the group anything of value for the challenge..." at this, he cast a glance a Terra, "but I think we all know who these faults really fall upon." With a smirk, Cain finished, saying, "I rest my case."

Her mouth agape, Terra stammered out, "B-B-But it was _Thrasher_ who lost us the whole thing!" she insisted quickly.

A groan sounded from the guys' cabin, and Thrasher called, "Don't remind me!"

* * *

_Confessional:_

Can let out a laugh, his signature grin having more of a twisted look to it. "Oh, I'd say I dug a grave with my speech. But who will lie in it is out of my hands at this point."

* * *

"Welcome, Deadly Detectives, to your first elimination ceremony of the season!" Chris greeted as the campers had a seat on the stumps around the fire. "If you're safe tonight, I'll give you one of these little plastic ID cards. But one of you will be eliminated tonight, and that person will take a trip on the Plane of Shame!" He motioned to the old biplane, causing the campers to cringe.

"Janelle, Donny, you two are safe." Chris gave them their ID cards. The two hugged happily, causing the hose to wince in disgust. "Surrey, Cullen, you're safe as well." They received their cards with much less affection toward each other. "And, surprisingly, Thrasher is safe tonight, too." with a wicked grin, the redhead took his ID card.

"I knew they wouldn't vote me off!" Thrasher said contentedly.

"That just leaves Terra and Cain. You two had a bit of a falling out today. I'll be honest, neither one of you is really all that likable."

"Hey!" the two contested in unison, but Chris ignored them.

"So tonight, the camper going home is...Terra."

The girl stood and stamped her foot, tears beginning to brim in her eyes as Cain accepted his ID card with a grin. "You're all a bunch of jerks! The only person that ever cared about me was Parker and he was sent away, too! You all just have it out for me, don't you? You're all out to get me!"

As she continued to throw her tantrum, Chef walked in and picked up the petite girl, carrying her to the plane and getting into the cockpit himself. The campers were dismissed as the plane's engine revved, and msot everyone walked off before she left.

The vehicle began to lift off and Cain stood a ways off, watching as Terra was carried from the island. He waved smugly, that grin of his tinted with maliciousness once again.

After the plane had disappeared into the night, Chris began his closing. "We're down to twelve campers in the fight for the cash. Who will make it through the next week? And who will be sent home in that flying death trap? Find out next time on Total...Drama...Search Party!"

"Are you _sure_ you don't wanna talk about it, Peppermint?" Noel pushed, following Thrasher as he headed toward his cabin. "I know it's gotta feel pretty awful to lose a competition for your team and all that."

"Ugh, shut up, Christmas Creep!" the redhead insisted. He pushed the door open to his cabin, but turned back toward Noel before he went inside. "I'm not interested in having a heart-to-heart with you, _so leave me alone."_

After having the door slammed in her face, Noel stood silent for a moment. Then her smile returned and she called through the door, "Okay, maybe later!" and skipped off to her own bed.


End file.
